The Olive Branch Petition

Summary

The Olive Branch Petition is the name later given to the petition to the king that the Continental Congress ordered engrossed, compared, and signed on 8 July 1775. The hosted text follows the Journals of the Continental Congress as presented by the Avalon Project. John Dickinson was its principal author. The same week, Congress also adopted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms. The two documents should be read together: one explains why the colonies have taken up arms; the other still addresses George III as “Most Gracious Sovereign” and entreats his attention to a humble petition from “your Majesty’s faithful subjects.” The petition speaks in the name of twelve colonies, from New Hampshire to South Carolina. Georgia had not yet sent delegates, and the text should not be described as already the voice of thirteen states. The subscribers named in this transcription include John Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and many of their colleagues. George Washington, already gone to command the army, does not appear among them. The argument recalls a beneficial union between the mother country and the colonies, and it attributes later injuries to a new system of statutes and measures that, the petitioners say, failed even to promote the welfare of Great Britain. The close is a prayer that the king may enjoy a long and prosperous reign, and that his descendants may govern with honor and with happiness to their subjects. The petition is therefore not a hidden declaration of independence. It is a last formal appeal, written after blood had already been shed, by a Congress that had also just justified armed resistance. Historically the king would not receive the petition as the colonists hoped, and the following year brought formal independence. That later outcome should not be read back into the wording of 8 July. For students, the value of the text is precisely its restraint and its pairing with the Declaration of Causes. It also belongs beside Dickinson’s earlier Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania and beside the 1776 Declaration in the library’s Founding Documents collection. One typographic correction is noted in the editorial remarks: Avalon’s HTML read “Edwd Diddle” among the Pennsylvania names; the signer was Edward Biddle.

Plot or Argument

• A humble petition from twelve colonies

  The document addresses the king as faithful subjects of twelve colonies, from New Hampshire to South Carolina, and asks his gracious attention.

• A union injured by a new system

  The petitioners recall a beneficial union with the mother country and blame a later system of measures that, they say, failed even to serve Britain’s welfare.

• A prayer for the king’s reign

  The close prays that the king may enjoy a long and prosperous reign and that his descendants may govern with honor and with happiness to their subjects.

Characters

• John Dickinson, principal author

  Pennsylvania delegate who drafted the petition and had also helped write the Declaration of Causes two days earlier.

• George III, addressee

  The king to whom the petition is directed, as Most Gracious Sovereign.

• The Second Continental Congress, signing body

  Ordered the petition engrossed and signed on 8 July 1775; the named subscribers include Dickinson, Franklin, John Adams, and Jefferson.

Lessons

• A petition, not a hidden declaration

  The text still speaks as faithful subjects and prays for the king’s long reign. Later independence should not be read back into these sentences.

  • How do the opening and closing address the king?
  • What, if anything, does the petition still hope he will do?

• Twelve colonies, not yet thirteen

  Georgia had not yet sent delegates. Accurate reading begins with the list of colonies actually named in the text.

  • Which colonies are named, and which later state is missing?
  • Why does that fact matter for how we describe “the colonies” in 1775?

• The same week as the Declaration of Causes

  Congress justified taking up arms on 6 July and signed this petition on 8 July. The pairing is the context in which each document should be taught.

  • Why might Congress issue both documents in one week?
  • How does Dickinson’s authorship of both affect the comparison?

Context

By early July 1775 the war had begun, Washington was already on his way to the army, and Congress was both organizing resistance and making a last formal appeal to the king.

Composition

The Journals of the Continental Congress record that on 8 July 1775 the petition was engrossed, compared, and signed. The hosted text follows the Avalon Project’s presentation of those journals. “Olive Branch” is the later familiar name, not a title printed at the head of this text.

Reception

The petition did not obtain the hearing the colonists hoped for. Independence followed the next year. That later history explains the document’s common name, but the wording itself remains a petition for redress.

Comparisons

• Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms

  Adopted two days earlier, that declaration explains why the same Congress had taken up arms, while this petition still asks the king for redress.

• The Founding Documents

  The 1776 Declaration of Independence, in the library’s Founding Documents collection, marks the change from petitioning the king to announcing a new nation.

• Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania

  Dickinson’s Farmer letters are the earlier public argument by the petition’s principal author, still seeking rights within the empire.

• Thoughts on Government and Selected Letters

  John Adams signed this petition and, in his letters, often judged the policy of petitioning more severely than Dickinson did.

• Farewell Address and Selected Letters

  Washington had already left Congress for the army and does not sign this petition; his later papers show the war and the republic that followed when petition failed.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The address to “Most Gracious Sovereign” and the phrase “faithful subjects.”
• The list of twelve colonies, and the absence of Georgia.
• The remembered benefits of union with the mother country.
• The closing prayer for the king’s long reign.

Key terms and names

Petition

A formal written request for redress, here addressed to the king.

Engrossed

Copied in a fair official hand, as the journal says this petition was before it was signed.

Mother country

Great Britain, to which the petitioners still describe themselves as bound.

Olive branch

A later name for this petition, taken from the symbol of a last offer of peace.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension On what date was the petition engrossed and signed, and to whom is it addressed?
2. Comprehension How many colonies are named, and which later state is missing?
3. Comprehension Which later familiar title does this document bear, and what in the wording shows that it is still a petition rather than a declaration of independence?
4. Interpretation Why would Congress pray for the king’s long reign in the same week it justified taking up arms?
5. Interpretation What does the petition say went wrong in the old union with Britain?
6. Big Question When, if ever, does a last petition become the wrong tool, and how should a reader judge this one from the text itself rather than only from what happened later?

Faith Connections

• 1 Timothy 2:1–2 (Scripture)

  Paul’s instruction to pray for kings may be set beside the petition’s closing prayer, without treating the verse as a command to accept every royal policy.

• Jeremiah 29:7 (Scripture)

  The call to seek the peace of the city can frame a discussion of loyalty and protest, while remaining distinct from a 1775 political petition.

• Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (Great Conversation)

  The declaration of 6 July is the necessary companion to this 8 July petition.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Because the union with the mother country was once beneficial and has been injured by a later system of measures, the colonies may still petition the king, as faithful subjects, for redress and for a just peace.

Rhetorical device: humble address. The opening and closing language of a humble petition and a prayer for the king’s reign frames the grievances rather than abandoning the form of petition.

Debate: Resolved: that the Olive Branch Petition should be judged by what it asks, not only by the fact that it failed.

Memory Work

entreat your Majesty's gracious attention to this our humble petition.

That your Majesty may enjoy a long and prosperous reign, and that your descendants may govern your dominions with honor to themselves and happiness to their subjects, is our sincere and fervent prayer.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Explain what the petition still hopes from the king, and why that hope is not the same thing as a declaration of independence. Quote the opening and the close.

Comparison with Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms: Compare this petition with the Declaration of Causes adopted two days earlier. How can one Congress both justify arms and petition the king in a single week?

Creative Prompts

• Essay

  Explain why this petition can be sincere even though Congress had just justified taking up arms. Use exact phrases from the opening and the close.

• Classroom

  On a map, mark the twelve colonies named in the petition and the one later state that is missing. Then read the title “faithful subjects” aloud and discuss what it claims.

• Dialogue

  Write a conversation between John Dickinson and John Adams on 8 July 1775 about whether a petition to the king is still worthwhile.

Further Reading

• Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, Continental Congress

  The companion declaration adopted two days earlier, now also in the library.

• Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, John Dickinson

  Dickinson’s earlier letters on colonial rights.

• The Founding Documents, Continental Congress and United States Constitutional Convention

  The library collection that includes the 1776 Declaration of Independence.